Rare variants in the melanocortin 4 receptor gene (MC4R) are associated with abdominal fat and insulin resistance in youth with obesity.

Background: Rare variants in melanocortin 4 receptor gene (MC4R) result in a severe form of early-onset obesity; however, it is unclear how these variants may affect abdominal fat distribution, intrahepatic fat accumulation, and related metabolic sequelae.

Methods: Eight hundred seventy-seven youth (6-21 years) with overweight/obesity, recruited from the Yale Pediatric Obesity Clinic in New Haven, CT, underwent genetic analysis to screen for functionally damaging, rare variants (MAF < 0.01) in MC4R.

Daily glucose variability is associated with intrahepatic fat content, β cell sensitivity, and biomarkers of glycolysis in youth with obesity.

Objective: Pediatric obesity is associated with insulin resistance, which, in turn, impacts glucose and lipid metabolism. This study sought to assess how glucose variability relates to intrahepatic fat content, β cell insulin sensitivity, and glycolysis in youth with obesity.

Methods: A total of 27 youth with obesity (11 girls, BMI percentile, median [25th-75th percentiles]: 99.

Continuous Glucose Monitoring among Infants Born Very Preterm: Evidence for Accuracy in Neonatal Intensive Care.

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of a device for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) among infants born preterm admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit.

Study Design: We analyzed paired CGM sensor glucose (SG) and point-of-care blood glucose (BG) measurements collected in infants born at ≤32 weeks of gestation or with a birth weight ≤1500 g. CGM was initiated within 48 hours from birth and maintained for 5 days.

Adipose tissue insulin resistance in children and adolescents: linking glucose and free fatty acid metabolism to hepatic injury markers.

Obesity is one of the leading causes of the development of insulin resistance, diabetes, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in children. With the progression of insulin resistance, both glucose and free fatty acid (FFA) plasma levels are elevated, leading to cardiometabolic complications such as impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), type 2 diabetes, and liver fat accumulation. In this study, oral minimal models were used to estimate insulin sensitivity indexes (SI and SI) in 375 adolescents with obesity.